The enlightenment презентация

the second half of the 17th –
during all of the 18th century

British colonial expansion
struggle for domination in commerce
the commercial classes (middle classes) - the most active sections of the population (characterized by common sense and sound-thinking reason)

the main roots of evil
ignorance
enlightening the people
long-range goal and priority

the Enlightenment
“The Age of Reason”

characteristic features of the epoch
deep hatred of feudalism, rejection of Church dogmas
love for freedom, striving for systemic education for all
concern for the fate of the common people

characteristic features of English literature of the period
the rise of the political pamphlet and essay; the leading genre – the novel
the hero of the novel was no longer a prince but a representative of the middle class
instructive character (writers were more guided by social purpose than by the need to express personal feeling)

The literature of the period may be divided into 3 periods:

1.
Glorious Revolution (1688-1689) – the end of the 1730s classicism in poetry; new prose literature (A.Pope, R.Steele, J.Addison, D.Defoe, J.Swift).
2.
1740-1750s – the development of the realistic social novel (S.Richardson, H.Fielding, T.Smollett).
3.
Last decades of the century – Sentimentalism (O.Goldsmith, L.Sterne, R.Burns)

the age of satire

the satires of the Roman poets
(Horace and Juvenal )
were translated and imitated

John Dryden (1631-1700)

dramatist
major critic
translator
He influenced many of the great writers
of the 18th century

verse satires:
“Absolom and Achitophel” (1681-1682)
“Mac Flecknoe” (w.1678; p.1682)

“Mac Flecknoe”
an attack on the poet and playwright T. Shadwell (1640-1692) on the occasion of the death of the notoriously bad Irish poet R.Flecknoe in 1678.

Alexander Pope (1688-1744)

Jonathan Swift (1667-1745)

born in Dublin, Ireland
on November 30, 1667

His father Jonathan Swift
(an attorney)
died just two months before
his son arrived

Without steady income, his mother struggled to provide for her newborn.

Swift was a sickly child (suffered from Meniere's Disease, a condition of the inner ear that results in hard of hearing)

To give her son the best upbringing the mother gave him over to Godwin Swift (uncle)

Godwin Swift enrolled his nephew in the Kilkenny Grammar School (1674–1682)
(the best school in Ireland at the time).

from poverty
to a private school
challenging

made a fast friend in William Congreve
(future poet and playwright)

14 y.o.
undergraduate studies - Trinity College, Dublin

1686
received a Bachelor of Arts degree,
and went on to pursue a master's.

huge unrest broke out in Ireland

The king of Ireland, England and Scotland was soon to be overthrown –
Glorious Revolution of 1688

Swift moved to England
and start anew.

His mother found a secretary position for him under the English statesman, Sir William Temple (10 years)

Swift met the daughter of Temple's housekeeper, a girl just 8 years old named Esther Johnson

He took a friendly interest in her from
the beginning and supervised her education
and gave her the nickname "Stella"

When Swift saw her again in 1696 he considered she had grown into the "most beautiful, graceful and agreeable young woman in London"

They became lovers for the rest of their lives.
It was rumored that they married in 1716, and that Swift kept of lock of Johnson's hair in his possession at all times.

under Temple's influence, he began to write
first short essays
then a manuscript for a later book

For the next 10 years, he gardened, preached and worked on the house provided to him by the church.
He also returned to writing.

1st political pamphlet
“A Discourse on the Contests and Dissentions in Athens and Rome”

1704
anonymously released
“A Tale of a Tub and The Battle of the Books”

1704
anonymously released
“A Tale of a Tub and The Battle of the Books”
!!! although widely popular with the masses, it was harshly disapproved of by the Church of England

1704
anonymously released
“A Tale of a Tub and The Battle of the Books”
!!! although widely popular with the masses, it was harshly disapproved of by the Church of England
!!! it criticized religion, but Swift meant it as a parody of pride

writings earned him a reputation in London, and when the Tories came into power in 1710, they asked him to become editor of the Examiner, their official paper.

began writing some of the most cutting and well-known political pamphlets of the day

When he saw that the Tories would soon fall from power, Swift returned to Ireland.

1713
took the post of dean at St. Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin

romantic relationship with Esther Vanhomrigh
(whom he called Vanessa)
still in contact with Esther Johnson

He is also rumored to have had a relationship with the celebrated beauty
Anne Long

Leading his congregation at St. Patrick's,
he began to write what would become his best-known work

1726
finished with the manuscript
traveled to London
benefited from the help of several friends, who anonymously published it as
“Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World”, in Four Parts, by Lemuel Gulliver

The book was an immediate success,
and hasn't been out of print since its first run

“Gulliver’s Travels”
Key Facts

1. Author: Jonathan Swift
2. Type of work: Novel
3. Genre: Satire
4. Time and place written: approximately 1712–1726, London and Dublin

5. Narrator: Lemuel Gulliver
6. Point of view: Gulliver speaks in the first person. He describes other characters and actions as they appear to him
7. Tone: Gulliver’s tone is gullible and naïve during the first three voyages; in the fourth, it turns cynical and bitter. The intention of the author, Jonathan Swift, is satirical and biting throughout

8. Setting (time): Early 18th century
9. Setting (place): Primarily England and the imaginary countries of Lilliput, Blefuscu, Brobdingnag, Laputa, and the land of the Houyhnhnms
10. Protagonist: Lemuel Gulliver
11. Major conflict: Gulliver strives to understand the various societies with which he comes into contact and to have these societies understand his native England. Below the surface, Swift is engaged in a conflict with the English society he is satirizing

12. Rising action: Gulliver’s encounters with other societies eventually lead up to his rejection of human society in the fourth voyage
13. Climax: Gulliver rejects human society in the fourth voyage, specifically when he shuns the generous Don Pedro as a vulgar Yahoo
14. Falling action: Gulliver’s unhappy return to England accentuates his alienation and compels him to buy horses, which remind him of Houyhnhnms, to keep him company

15. Themes: Might versus right; the individual versus society; the limits of human understanding
16. Motifs: Excrement; foreign languages; clothing
17. Symbols: Lilliputians; Brobdingnagians; Laputans; Houyhnhnms; England

Esther Johnson, fell ill.
She died in January 1728.
Her life's end moved Swift to write “The Death of Mrs. Johnson”

Shortly after her death, a stream of Swift's other friends also died.

1742 - Swift suffered from a stroke and lost the ability to speak.
On October 19, 1745, Jonathan Swift died.

biographies, diaries
a form of literature
Samuel Pepys
John Evelyn

Samuel Pepys(1633-1703)

"a very worthy, industrious and curious person… hospitable, generous, learned in many things, skilled in music, a very great cherisher of learned men“
(J.Evelyn)

1660 - began his diary when he was very poor
after appointment as clerk of the King's Ships, he rose to become an important member of the Navy Board
1669 - finished his diary: his wife died.
1673 - appointed Secretary of the Admiralty and became a Member of Parliament.
He worked hard to provide the country with an efficient fleet.

His diary, probably intended for his eye alone, was all written in cipher (a type of short shorthand recently invented and not widely known) and was not deciphered until 1825.

John Evelyn (1620-1706)

secretary of the Royal Society
Royalist in sympathy
man of varied interests, including horticulture

published various translations of Greek, Latin and French authors
1664
“Sylva”, a practical book
on tree cultivation

1818 - His diary was first published
Unlike S.Pepys, he appears not to have composed regularly each day

Daniel Defoe (1660-1731)

is considered the founder
of the English novel
(along with S.Richardson)

Daniel Foe
born in 1660 in London, England

was the son of James Foe,
a London butcher

Daniel later changed his name to
Daniel Defoe
to sound more gentlemanly

graduated from an academy at Newington Green

1683
went into business, having given up an earlier intent on becoming a dissenting minister

traveled often, selling wine and wool, but was rarely out of debt

1692 - went bankrupt
1703 - decided to leave the business industry

1683 - published his first literary piece, a political pamphlet
continued to write political works, working as a journalist, until the early 1700s.

popular works:
“The True-Born Englishman” (which shed light on racial prejudice in England following attacks on William for being a foreigner)
the “Review” (a periodical p. 1704-1713).

Political opponents of Defoe's repeatedly had him imprisoned for his writing in 1713

1719 - took a new literary path
!!!(around the age of 59),
when he published Robinson Crusoe
(a fiction novel based on several short essays that he had composed over the years)

“Moll Flanders”
“Colonel Jack”
“Captain Singleton”
“Journal of the Plague Year”
“Roxana”

mid-1720s - Defoe returned to writing editorial pieces
(subjects: morality, politics and the breakdown of social order in England)

Defoe died on April 24, 1731

Little is known about Daniel Defoe's personal life—largely due to a lack of documentation

Sentimentalism

optimism felt in literature during the first half of the 18th century gave way to a certain depression as years went by
a new literary trend, that of
Sentimentalism appeared

Influenced by Rousseau the sentimentalists considered civilization harmful to humanity.
They believed that man should live close to nature and be free from the hazardous influence of civilization personified in town life

main features of Sentimentalism:
1. democratic ideas
2. criticism of existing life
3. interest in people's inner world
4. hero's loneliness
5. nature descriptions

main features of Sentimentalism:
1. democratic ideas
2. criticism of existing life
3. interest in people's inner world
4. hero's loneliness
5. nature descriptions

Robert Burns (1759-1796)

born the 25th of January 1759
in Alloway, Ayrshire

Rabbie Burns
the Ploughman Poet
the Bard of Ayrshire
The Bard

Robert Burns
mother
Agnes (nee Broun)
father
William Burnes
(who later shortened
his name to Burns)

was largely educated by his father,
who also hired a schoolmaster named John Murdock to tutor him.

had access to good books
and was well read

The family attempted to make a living at farming
but spent most of their time in poverty.

Burns appears to have written his first poems as a young man on the farm –
inspired by his affection for a young woman

1784
Burns' father died, penniless,
leaving him in charge of the farm

1785
first child was born
(the result of an affair with a household servant, Elizabeth Paton)

Burns was already involved romantically at the time with Jean Armour, who bore him twins the next year.
They declared themselves married but her father imposed on Jean to request an annulment.

To raise money for the trip he arranged publication of some of his work in nearby Kilmarnock.
The edition “Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect” brought him considerable acclaim. The 1786 book was praised by critics and the public alike.

1786
moved to Edinburgh (mingled in literary society)
However, financial security continued to elude him.
He again tried his hand at farming at Ellisland, Dumfriesshire in 1788.
He married Jean that year.

!!! devoted considerable time to composing and collecting traditional Scottish songs